Obeying the Gospel: Daily Motivation to Act on Our Faith

By Gary Henry

Obeying the Gospel is Book 5 in the WordPoints Daybook Series. Written by Gary Henry in his familiar style of courtesy and candor, this volume will challenge the conscience of readers young and old.

The gospel of Christ is a message, but it is a message that requires a response. Action is necessary if we are to receive the benefit

• Language: English
• Publisher: WordPoints
• Release date: Nov 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781936357659

Gary Henry

Writer, runner, dog dad. Retired Navy. Certified Coach, Road Runners Club of America. I review indie books online at Honest Indie Book Reviews ~ and my own books AMERICAN GODDESSES, WHAT HAPPENED TO JORY and THE MOON POEM AND OTHER STRANGE JINGLE JANGLES are all available right here on Smashie.

Book preview

Obeying the Gospel

Also by Gary Henry

Diligently Seeking God

Reaching Forward

Enthusiastic Ideas

More Enthusiastic Ideas

WordPoints Daybook Series - Volume 5

Obeying the Gospel

Daily Motivation to Act on Our Faith

Copyright © 2020 by Gary Henry

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN13 978-1-936357-51-2 – Print Edition

ISBN13 978-1-936357-65-9 – EPUB Edition

ISBN13 978-1-936357-75-8 – PDF Edition

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2011 by Crossway Bibles.

A bulk discount is available for 18 or more copies of any combination of books in the WordPoints Daybook Series. Email [e-mail] to place an order and receive this bulk discount. The books ordered must not be for resale.

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For

Dee Bowman

without whose friendship

this book would not exist

CONTENTS

Preface

The Daily Readings

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

A Prayer for Daily Meditation

Index of Daily Scripture Texts

Acknowledgments

WordPoints Daybook Series

WordPoints Websites

PREFACE

IT WAS DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF M AY IN 1999 that I began working on Diligently Seeking God, the earliest writing in what would later become the WordPoints Daybook Series. Many things have changed since then, yet one thing has never changed: I have loved writing these pages. This work has become my life’s passion.

But now we come to a book that is different from the others. In Obeying the Gospel, we’ll be looking at what is involved in becoming a Christian. If we’re asking the question the Philippian jailer asked, What must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30), surely we’ll want that question answered in a truthful way. We’ll want nothing more or less than the answer given in the Scriptures — and that is the answer Obeying the Gospel earnestly seeks to give.

It may seem strange that I would write on how and why to become a Christian in the form of a daily devotional. Aren’t devotionals for those who are Christians already? From a writing standpoint, it has certainly been a challenge to explain and emphasize obedience to the gospel within the format of 366 short, stand-alone pages. But I believe we need to see this topic in terms of our devotional lives.

We need to think of devotional literature not as emotional fluff (providing a sentimental boost for a minute or two each morning), but as writing that challenges us to respond more obediently to the gospel in every situation — even if we set out on the path of discipleship to Christ many years ago. As a writer, I want to help you see that doing what is right always comes down to responding rightly to the gospel. After you read this book, I hope you won’t ever be able to get this question out of your mind: if the gospel is true, what would obedience to the gospel — the message of the apostles in the New Testament — look like in the circumstances of my life right now?

In these days of instant digital communication all over the world, interacting with individuals who do not share our convictions is a more frequent experience than it used to be. In the interconnected environment of today, it is all the more necessary for us to be ready to do what Peter urged us to do: in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). I have tried to write evangelistically, which is to say, in a way that is understandable to those who do not share any of the basic presuppositions of Christians (or know the lingo that Christians use when talking to one another).

Writing these pages has been a sometimes painful exercise in self-examination. I have grown spiritually as a result of this work, and while I hope others will profit from it, I’m sure no one needs to hear it any more than I do. I’ve come to have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian. With every page, I became more excited to learn anew the wonders of the gospel plan of salvation. The more of the gospel we grasp, the more jaw-dropping is our amazement that God would put such a plan together for us.

It grieves me that some who dearly wanted to use this book did not live long enough to hold it in their hands. Laron Fleming, for example, my dear brother and friend in South Carolina, asked me after he was diagnosed with cancer, Gary, how soon do you think you can get this book ready? But the cancer took his life, and he is no longer with us. How I wish he could have employed this book in his evangelistic efforts, as he surely would have. Please forgive me, Laron, for not starting sooner and writing more urgently.

If you are a Christian. I hope you’ll learn to obey the gospel more radically. Where have you failed? In what ways can you do better?

If you are not a Christian. My prayer is that you’ll die with Christ in baptism and begin a life in which obedience to the gospel will be your guiding concern from now on, in every situation.

In any case, please know that I have written these pages because they say what I need to hear personally. The core truths of the gospel have been my companions for the last five years while I was writing, and now that the book is finished, I will do what I always do: I will use it as my own daily devotional. I have a very short memory, and I will not recognize many of these pages as having been written by me. So I look forward to reading this book, wrestling with my conscience, and thinking ever more deeply about what it means to obey the gospel. I pray it will help me to respond rightly — every day — to the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

GPH

Obeying the Gospel

Grant to me, O Lord,

to know what I ought to know,

to love what I ought to love,

to praise what delights you most,

to value what is precious in your sight,

to hate what is offensive to you.

Do not suffer me to judge according

to the sight of my eyes, nor to pass sentence according

to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men;

but to discern with true judgment

between things visible and spiritual,

and above all things to enquire

what is the good pleasure of your will.

— Thomas à Kempis

January 1

IN THE BEGINNING

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

LONG AGO , G OD MADE THE WORLD , AND WHEN IT WAS NEWLY MADE , IT WAS PERFECT . In its original state, as yet unmarred by any rebellion on the part of its inhabitants, the world reflected the perfection and glory of its Creator, ideally and supremely.

God is the only uncreated being. As Meister Eckhart wrote, Outside of God, there is nothing but nothing. Yet God was moved by His wisdom and love to bring into being other entities, created things that would be external to Himself.

The heavens and the earth in Genesis 1:1 were created as the habitat for a special class of personal beings — spiritual souls clothed in physical bodies. At the climax of His creative work, the triune God (having three personalities within Himself) said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth (Genesis 1:26). So, according to the earliest record, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27).

Man is heaven’s masterpiece (Francis Quarles). Each part of the earthly creation shows God’s glory, but it is only human beings that bear His image. Endowed with intellect, emotion, and a free will, Adam and Eve, our most ancient ancestors, had a relationship with God that the lower creatures were not capable of. We can only imagine God’s reasons. Did He deem the possibility of love — as a choice rather than a robotic response — worth the damage that would ensue if these creatures chose rebellion rather than love? Apparently so, especially if He could rescue some of them from the wreckage.

But Adam and Eve’s creation in God’s image meant they were subject to Him in unique ways. Brought into being by God, they had God as their King. He possessed the sovereign right to set the rules and bar them from any conduct He knew would harm them.

Every soul belongs to God and exists by his pleasure.

God being who and what he is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relationship between us is one of full lordship on his part and complete submission on ours. We owe him every honor that it is in our power to give him.

A . W. TOZER

January 2

SIN

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

Genesis 2:16,17

ADAM AND E VE WERE FREE , BUT THEY USED THEIR FREEDOM TO RE JECT G OD RATHER THAN HONOR H IM AS THEIR M AKER . We must not underestimate the seriousness of their decision to do what God had said they must not do. Their choice amounted to open rebellion. They wanted a knowledge they had been forbidden to have, and they refused to submit to their Creator’s authority in the matter.

Long ago, Augustine of Hippo said, I enquired what iniquity was and found it to be no substance but the perversion of the will, turned aside from thee, O God. More recently, Charles Colson put it this way, Sin is essentially rebellion against the rule of God. God, to whom we owe our existence, has the right to rule over us. He is absolutely sovereign. So disobedience should be seen for what it is: an act of defiance. When Adam and Eve grew discontent with God’s restrictions, they refused to obey Him, as if to say, We know what the laws of Your love are, but we will do as we please.

But as soon as they sinned, the promised penalty began to operate. They were alienated from God spiritually. Their face-to-face access to Him was revoked. Expelled from Eden, they were sent away to have their hearts broken in a difficult, unpredictable world now under the limitations of futility (Romans 8:20). They would live out their years in a world dreadfully unlike the one they were made for. In all of its terrible implications, the word death began to define human existence. The perfect world of Eden was gone.

And today, the law of sin and death still operates. Who among us can say we’ve never done what Adam and Eve did? Who can say he has never in his lifetime done anything he knew to be disobedient to God? If we’re honest, we have to plead guilty to the charge of sin. We know ourselves to be rebellious subjects who have committed treason against the King — our Father and our Sovereign.

Perhaps we think some of God’s laws are trivial. But God is not trivial, and willful disobedience is deadly. When we disobey the Creator of life, we die. It’s that simple. And in our present condition, our conscience tells us this: we’re dead already, even while we live.

No sin is small. No grain of sand is small in the mechanism of a watch.

JEREMY TAYLOR

January 3

SALVATION

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:15

EVEN BEFORE SIN BROKE THE PERFECTION OF G OD ’ S CREATION , G OD HAD FORMULATED A RESCUE PLAN . A descendant of Adam and Eve would crush Satan, the one who had lied to them, enticing them to sin: he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. As it turned out, this One would live a perfect life and die a sacrificial death. Not deserving death, He would die anyway, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Hebrews 2:14,15).

To hear that God has provided a way for us to be rescued is good news indeed. The New Testament uses the word gospel (glad tidings) to refer to this plan. But it will not seem like particularly good news until we have understood the seriousness of the problem. Unless we see what it means to have rebelled against God, to be separated from Him, and to be under the penalty of death both now and forever, we will not be receptive to the message of salvation. The terribleness of the problem is what makes the solution so amazing. We must hear the fearful news of our doom before we can rejoice at the good news of our deliverance.

But once we face the eternal tragedy — and utter agony — of being lost, the fatherly love that moved God to provide for our deliverance will bring us tears of joy. He could have abandoned us to the consequences of our choice, but He was not willing to do so. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). We can’t understand the kind of love that would prompt such a sacrifice — we can only respond to it thankfully.

But let us be clear: it is from sin that God proposes to save us. Sin is the root from which all the lesser problems in the world grow, and sin is what the gospel is about. In the gospel, salvation is not about the amelioration of social ills or earthly maladies. It is about (a) the forgiveness of our sins, and (b) learning to live again in reverence and gratitude before the Creator who loves us.

Salvation is bringing back to normal the Creator-creature relation.

A . W. TOZER

January 4

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark 1:1

WHEN THE TIME CAME AND G OD BROUGHT TO COMPLETION H IS PLAN TO PROVIDE SALVATION , THE PLAN WAS COMMUNICATED IN WORDS . In the Scriptures, this announcement of the deliverance from sin that God has made possible is called the gospel.

It is an interesting fact that God chose to use the medium of human language as He did. Crucial to His rescue plan was its communication by means of words from one person to another. In 2 Corinthians 5:18,19, Paul refers to the work of the apostles as the ministry of reconciliation, and he calls the gospel the message of reconciliation. The NIrV aptly paraphrases this as the message that people may be brought back to God. And in Ephesians 1:13, Paul said the joys of salvation came to his readers only after they heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. The gospel, then, is not a magical or mysterious feeling — it is a message.

But here is the important (and indispensable) point: the message is about Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus that God is offering salvation. In 2 Corinthians 5, we hear Paul affirming that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself (v.19). And concerning Christ, God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (v.21).

The message that God has opened up the way for us to be forgiven — and that Jesus is the Messiah (or Christ) through whom this was accomplished — is good news. Indeed, it is the best news the world has ever heard. In the familiar story of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Luke, we hear the angel saying to the shepherds in the field, watching their flocks at night, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (2:10,11). These are wonderful words.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him, Peter wrote, and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory (1 Peter 1:8). What could make our hearts sing with greater joy than knowing God has made it possible for us to come back to Him?

Euangelion (which we call gospel) is a Greek word, and signifies good, merry, glad, and joyful tidings, that makes a man’s heart glad, and makes him sing, dance, and leap for joy.

WILLIAM TYNDALE

January 5

OBEYING THE GOSPEL

. . . in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 1:8

THE GOSPEL OF J ESUS C HRIST IS THE GOOD NEWS OF G OD ’ S SALVA TION . But at this point, we encounter a misconception that is firmly lodged in the minds of many people: the notion that the gospel is unconditional and requires no response on our part.

Now certainly, anything we might do would be no more than a response to what God has done. Having cut ourselves off from God by our sins, there is absolutely nothing we could do to work our way back to Him. Paul says that while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6 NASB).

That, however, does not mean the gospel requires no response. It is a message, but it is a message that must be responded to. In the absence of the response required by God, the benefits of the message should not be expected. As I remember hearing preachers say when I was a child, The gospel contains facts which must be believed and commands which must be obeyed. If we leave out either the facts or the commands, the gospel is no longer good news.

The expression obey the gospel should not be scoffed at or minimized. It is biblical language. More is involved than just our initial obedience (see tomorrow’s reading), but if we’re lost in sin, we need to hear first about the initial steps required. We are wanting to enter the realm of God’s grace, so in the New Testament, what does the gospel say we must do? First, we must believe the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; 11:27). Then, we must repent of our sins (Acts 3:19), confess our faith (Romans 10:9,10), and be baptized in order to receive God’s forgiveness (Acts 22:16).

The gospel confronts us with a decision that is nothing less than life’s biggest decision. If we refuse God’s terms of pardon, we will have condemned ourselves by the stand we’ve taken. Jesus said, The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day (John 12:48). The gospel is a gracious invitation from God, and it is open to every person. But the invitation has to be accepted, and God has not left it to us to decide what the conditions of that acceptance will be.

No one is excluded from the gospel.

But many are excluded by the gospel.

KARL BARTH

January 6

CONTINUING TO OBEY THE GOSPEL

You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

Galatians 5:7

PAUL ’ S QUESTION W HO HINDERED YOU FROM OBEYING THE TRUTH ? WAS ADDRESSED TO A GROUP OF C HRISTIANS . He was concerned about some in Galatia who, having been baptized into Christ, were turning away from the truth. They were no longer obeying the gospel, and Paul was worried about their salvation.

Beginning with the initial response, culminating in baptism, that brings one into a forgiven relationship with God, the Christian embarks on a lifetime of obedience. It is not too much to say that obeying the gospel defines everything the Christian does. Every obedient thought, word, and deed is a grateful response to the good news of what God has done to save us.

But if it is possible to obey the gospel, it is also possible to quit obeying it. Faithfulness to God and gratitude for His grace are not automatic; we have to choose to live this way. And the Scriptures are clear: if we quit living in obedience to the gospel, we will go back to being under condemnation for our sins. The Letter to the Hebrews, for example, is a powerful warning against apostasy and a plea to remain true to Christ. It was written to some in the first century who were becoming unfaithful and were in danger of losing their hope of heaven, just as many in Israel left Egypt in the Exodus but failed to reach Canaan because of unfaithfulness (Hebrews 3:12-4:11).

So becoming a Christian involves making a commitment. To confess Christ is not merely a statement that we believe the truth of the gospel — it is a promise of obedience to His will for the rest of our lives. That is a serious commitment, obviously, and Jesus urged us to count the cost (Luke 14:25-33) before we make it.

Reading the New Testament even briefly, we can see there are two phases or stages in obeying the gospel: first, we accept God’s forgiveness on His terms, and second, we live the rest of our lives under the lordship of Christ. To do the first but not the second is to deny Christ. Paul put it succinctly: As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him (Colossians 2:6). So the question is not just whether we’ve accepted Christ at some point in the past — it’s also whether the gospel is what we’re obeying right now.

There are two things to do about the gospel — believe it and behave it.

SUSANNA WESLEY

January 7

THE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL

. . . if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.

Colossians 1:23

HOPE IS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL TRAITS WE CAN POSSESS . Without it, we languish, but with hope, almost no obstacle can keep us from our goal. And one reason the gospel of Christ is the greatest of all messages is that it offers the greatest of all hopes. In Christ there is the prospect of a perfect, eternal relationship with God when our lives right now have run their course.

Unfortunately, the hope of the gospel is often misrepresented in modern evangelism. Rather than the forgiveness of sins and the restoration of a right relationship with God, the point of the gospel is often said to be the diminishing of injustice and suffering in the world. Even worse, some say the gospel is about health, wealth, and happiness — as if God’s primary intent in the sacrifice of His Son was to provide us a path to prosperity and earthly comfort.

Make no mistake, the Christian will help anyone who is suffering if he can. In the words of C. S. Lewis, [The gospel] does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next.

But the gospel is not about our secondary problems; it’s about our sin. Fixing that problem, the gospel offers the thing we need more than anything else: eternal fellowship with the God who made us.

In an age like ours, we need to grasp anew the grandeur of the gospel’s hope. We must cherish it for the treasure it is, maintain it at all costs, and reach forward to it every day. Our beloved brother Paul had his priorities straight: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13,14). May heaven mean no less to us than it did to him.

God speaks to the crowd, but his call comes to individuals, and through their personal obedience he acts. He does not promise them success, or even final victory in this life. The goal of the adventure to which he commits them is in heaven. God does not promise that he will protect them from trials, from material cares, from sickness, from physical or moral suffering. He promises only that he will be with them in all these trials, and that he will sustain them if they remain faithful to him.

PAUL TOURNIER

January 8

HEARING THE TRUTH

Take care then how you hear.

Luke 8:18

IF THE GOSPEL HAS A PREREQUISITE , IT IS THAT WE MUST BE WILLING TO HEAR IT . The process that the gospel was meant to begin can go no further if there is anything that filters it out of our thinking. Whatever else it may be, the gospel is a message, and like any message, the gospel requires not just a hearing but a fair hearing.

First, we must be open to being persuaded. No amount of evidence will be enough if, deep down, we are simply unpersuadable. The adage is true: there are none so deaf as those who will not hear. So we must be easy to be entreated (James 3:17 ASV) or open to reason (ESV). The gospel won’t have a chance if we don’t give it a chance. So how open are we? Will prejudicial filters block the gospel out of our hearts? Are there any up-front limits on how far we would follow Jesus if the gospel were true?

Truth demands from us two qualities of character: honesty and courage. The question What is true? has to do with the facts. Getting the right answer to that question requires honesty. But the more important question is What are we going to do with the truth? Responding to truth takes courage, and here is where we stumble. When the truth calls for a difficult response, we hide from it, as Adam and Eve did following their sin (Genesis 3:8-10).

There are two different truths we must hear: the sinful truth about ourselves (the gospel’s diagnosis of our malady) and the saving truth about God (the gospel’s plan for our restoration). The second will mean little to those who have rejected the first, and the first is by far the hardest to accept. Confronting our sinfulness is painful, but the truth can’t save us if we’re unwilling to face the problem. Without the bad news, the good news will not be good.

Above all, we must guard against defining truth in terms of what we want the truth to be. Without recognizing it or admitting it to ourselves, we often reject ideas as untrue when there is no objective reason to do so. We simply don’t want them to be true. But the truth is what it is — regardless of our preferences. And the more painful a truth may be to accept (at least in the short term), the more we must be adventurers — going wherever the truth leads us.

The truth is not always what we want to hear.

JEWISH PROVERB

January 9

GRIEVING OUR SINS

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

2 Corinthians 7:10 NKJV

IN AN AGE WHEN FEELING GOOD OUTRANKS EVERY OTHER VALUE , IT IS HARD FOR MANY TO SEE THAT OUR FIRST RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL MUST BE GRIEF . Yet if the gospel is about redemption from our sins, we are not ready for what the gospel offers until we see our sins for what they are and grieve them in a godly way.

Nowadays, the purpose of the gospel is often perverted. No longer do people understand it to be about the remission of sins and the restoration of a right relationship with God. It is no wonder, then, that godly sorrow and repentance are left out of modern preaching. Nevertheless, the gospel is about sin. Godly sorrow grieves the treachery we have committed against God. And it alone produces the repentance that leads to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10).

In the life of Christ, it is interesting to note who the people were whom Jesus welcomed. It was not the poor, the underprivileged, or the oppressed. These social statuses meant little to Jesus unless people in these conditions came penitently — seeking His forgiveness with godly sorrow. If they came with this attitude, they were welcomed, but no more than people from any other status who came with the same penitence. Jesus was looking for those who saw their need for His forgiveness, regardless of their external circumstances. So if we ask which people would be blessed, Jesus said it was the poor in spirit . . . those who mourn . . . those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:3-6). To those whose hearts were not broken by sorrow for their own sins, Jesus had nothing to offer of any unique or lasting value.

But if the first thing the gospel produces is sorrow, doesn’t that negative message turn people away? For some, it certainly does. It did in Jesus’ day, and it does now. But let’s not misunderstand. The gospel is the most positive good news the world has ever heard. But it produces the joy of forgiveness only when a person has first gone through the process of godly sorrow. It gives us a new beginning, nothing short of a new birth. But the new life comes only after a conversion that is bathed in bitter tears.

Repentance is not a fatal day when tears are shed, but a natal day when, as a result of tears, a new life begins.

ILION T. JONES

January 10

COUNTING THE COST

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Luke 14:28

BEFORE EMBARKING ON A PROJECT , MOST PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHETHER THEY ARE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE . Halfway through the work is not a good time to start wrestling with whether the results are going to be worth the sacrifice. We should have already done that. So Jesus said those considering obedience to His gospel should count the cost. It is disastrous not to do so.

When it comes to following Christ, however, we don’t know what the cost is going to be, at least not specifically. We know that it may be very costly — in fact, it may cost us everything valuable in this life — but when we are baptized into Christ, we can’t see very far down the road. All we know is that Jesus requires a nothing-held-back commitment: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it (Mark 8:34,35).

So to count the cost would be to ask ourselves whether we’re willing to make that kind of commitment and then keep the promise even if it kills us. Are there limits to our submission to His authority? Are there any conditions or fine print in our contract with Him? Is there anything we wouldn’t do if following Him required us to do that? These are deep, heart-probing questions, and the serious disciple is one who answered them decisively before he made his commitment. Solomon said about promises in general, It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay (Ecclesiastes 5:5). If all we can say is maybe, we insult our God.

We should not be surprised that there is a cost to be counted. If rightful love for God is what the gospel calls for, that response will be costly. Love requires sacrifice, and the higher the love, the bigger the sacrifice. But what is the alternative? If we turn away from the gospel because of the costliness of the love it requires, there is nothing left but lesser loves — counterfeits that offer little more than disappointment, having cost us little more than what was convenient. So will we rise to the highest love, pay its price, and receive its joy? There is no more fundamental or far-reaching question in this world.

True love is always costly.

BILLY GRAHAM

January 11

TRUSTING OUR FATHER

. . . for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 2:13

SIN IS THE RESULT OF FORSAKING THE TRUST WE WERE MEANT TO HAVE IN G OD . We see it first in the Garden of Eden, where as soon as Adam and Eve’s confidence in God’s goodness had been broken, they were willing to violate His will to get what they wanted (Genesis 3:1-6). Since then, the problem of sin has always been the same, and we’re all guilty of it. Failing to trust that God’s way is best, we’ve rebelled and committed treachery to get satisfactions we think are better than those God’s way would allow.

If a broken trust in God is the root of sin, it makes sense that for the problem of sin to be fixed, trust is going to have to be put back in its rightful place. That is why faith is so important in God’s plan for our restoration to His fellowship through Jesus Christ.

Faith begins with simple belief, an acceptance of the factual truth about God. But based on belief, faith also means trusting that God is good, His commands are always going to be better than our will, and in the end He is waiting for us in heaven if we will adhere to His plan for our redemption. When our immediate circumstances seem to cast doubt on these truths, it is only trust (based on the solid evidence of God’s trustworthiness, especially in Jesus’ resurrection) that will keep us faithful to our Father.

I love Adam Litmer’s definition of trust: unwavering belief that God’s way is always the right way, without exception . . . and that our lives will always be best lived when lived for His glory. If we reject the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5), there is no salvation for us. We must dispense with the doubts about God and His law that started us down the path of disobedience in the first place.

Abraham is the great example of trust. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). Because he believed, Abraham obeyed. At God’s bidding, he risked everything he had in this world because he trusted God’s promise. Today, we can’t be God’s friends as he was without banking on God’s promise as he did.

The pith, the essence of faith lies in this — a casting oneself on the promise.

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

January 12

MAKING THE COMMITMENT

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Acts 8:35-38

IF (1) GODLY SORROW IS MOVING US TO SEEK G OD ’ S FORGIVENESS , (2) WE BELIEVE J ESUS C HRIST IS THE O NE SENT BY G OD TO SAVE US , AND (3) WE ARE WILLING TO BEGIN A LIFE OF REAL TRUST , WHAT SHOULD WE DO ? A commitment to God must be made through Jesus Christ, and we have talked about counting the cost of that. But if we are ready, what must we actually do to make the commitment required by the gospel and receive all its joyful benefits?

Repentance. It would make no sense to seek the forgiveness of sins which we refuse to give up, so God requires that we lay down our rebellion and pledge allegiance to His rule. The gospel is a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47), and that means committing ourselves to a changed life.

Confession of faith. Christ’s acknowledgment of His true identity cost Him dearly, and He requires that we be equally open about our faith in Him. The apostle Paul wrote, If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

Baptism. In Colossians 2:12, Paul wrote that we are buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. If we are presently in Christ, it was in baptism that we moved from condemnation to salvation — our forgiveness was not the result of the water itself or any meritorious quality of our obedience; it was our faith in the powerful working of God.

As you can see, there is something special about the act of baptism. Whether we understand God’s purpose in this or not, He has made baptism the doorway, or division, that separates the old from the new. In the gospel of Christ, it is in baptism that our sins are washed away (Acts 22:16). Urgently viewing Christ’s command to be baptized, and trusting the Father to forgive us, we commit ourselves to Christ by dying with Him in baptism (Romans 6:3,4).

Baptism points back to the work of God, and forward to the life of faith.

J. ALICE MOTYER

January 13

DYING WITH CHRIST

The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him,

we will also live with him.

2 Timothy 2:11

THE LITTLE WORD IF IS A POWERFUL WORD . If salvation depends on dying with Christ, it’s important to know what this means.

Baptism. If it is in baptism that we die with Christ (Romans 6:3,4), we should not expect the benefits of Christ’s death unless we are willing to die with Him in this way. But there is more.

Intent to die to sin. The objective fact of God’s forgiveness of our sins at baptism is accompanied by a subjective fact in our hearts: we intend to die to sin. That is, we commit ourselves to walking in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Just as Christ died on the cross, the condemnation for our sins is removed when we die with Him in baptism. But it is not only the guilt of our sins in the past that must be done away with; the practice of sin in the present must also die. This part of dying with Christ must not be left out. We must decide that our old practices are dead and gone.

Putting sin to death daily. Having died with Christ in baptism and committed ourselves to living rightly, we must carry out that commitment on a daily basis. Our dying with Christ is a fact (it happened when we were baptized), but it is also a command. It was not to the unbaptized but those who had died with Christ that Paul wrote, Put to death therefore what is earthly in you (Colossians 3:5). We may have been very sincere in turning to Christ, but Satan will keep trying to destroy us — so put to death what is earthly in you is a command we never get finished obeying in this life. The older devotional writers used to talk about the daily mortification of the flesh, and perhaps we need to get back to that kind of thinking. You may prefer more modern words than mortification, but don’t ever underestimate this aspect of dying with Christ.

So let’s come back to that little word if. According to Paul, we will live with Christ if we have died with Him. We would not have been baptized into Christ if we had not decided to die with Him. It was a choice. And our old self will not stay dead if we refuse to let go of what used to be important to us. We must deny ourselves and take up our cross. That is also a choice.

You will be dead so long as you refuse to die.

GEORGE MACDONALD

January 14

KEEPING THE FAITH

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.

Acts 11:23

SADLY , SOME PEOPLE MAKE A COMMITMENT TO C HRIST , BUT THEY GET TO WHERE THE COMMITMENT DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING TO THEM . They do not remain faithful to the Lord, as Barnabas urged the new converts in Antioch to do. And the New Testament is clear about the consequence of unfaithfulness: to go back on our commitment to Christ is to go back to being lost. The writer of Hebrews said that we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end (Hebrews 3:14).

Jesus did not mince words about our commitment to His salvation. He said, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). So anytime we talk about obeying the gospel, let’s also talk about continuing to obey it. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1). Until the victory is fully ours, we must . . . continue.

Few of the virtues we might have are more important than faithfulness. To be reliable is one of the finest things in life. And, of course, to be a traitor is one of the most despicable. So we should aspire to trustworthiness and steadfastness in our commitment. We can count on God; He should also be able to count on us.

For persons broken by sin as we are, learning God’s character — allowing Him to remake us — is a growth process that takes time. In Christ, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). Surely we must not give up before the process has reached its goal.

Ultimately, it is love and gratitude for grace that will keep us faithful. Forgiven, we want to grow. We want to continue. Our most fervent desire is to be all our Father wants us to be, forever.

Thine am I, I was born for thee,

What wouldst thou, Master, make of me?

Give me death or give me life

Give health or give infirmity

Give honor or give obloquy

Give peace profound or daily strife,

Weakness or strength add to my life;

Yes, Lord, my answer still shall be

What wilt thou, Master, have of me?

TERESA OF ÁVILA

January 15

SHARING THE FAITH

Tell everyone God’s message. Be ready at all times to do whatever is needed.

2 Timothy 4:2 ERV

IN THE N EW T ESTAMENT , ORDINARY C HRISTIANS WERE EVANGELIS TIC . It wasn’t just the evangelists — everybody preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went (Acts 8:4 NLT). Even under persecution ( especially under persecution, it seems) the followers of Jesus spread the word of forgiveness and eternal hope.

Today, it is tragically true that we who follow Jesus are not as evangelistic as they were. We are reluctant to talk about the gospel, and most of us rarely do it except when we are in the company of fellow believers. We have disengaged from the world in such a way that we have little evangelistic impact in our communities.

To be sure, not everyone is equally adept at talking with strangers, nor is every member of the Lord’s church equally skilled at teaching. In the body of Christ, as in a human body, the members do not all have the same function (Romans 12:4).

But we can’t receive the benefits of the gospel ourselves and not want to do something to share those benefits with other people. In some kind of personal way, we should want to reach those around us with the message that has brought us such great joy.

We can at least do what Jesus told the man in Mark 5:1-20. In that account, Jesus had healed a man of his demonic possession, and in profound reverence and gratitude, the man wanted to get in the boat and accompany Jesus back across the Sea of Galilee. But Jesus wanted him to do something that would be even better: Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you (v.19).

If nothing else, we can explain what convinced us the gospel is true. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15 NIV). If we had our own doubts, we can tell others what truths overcame those doubts.

For those forgiven of their sins, sharing the faith is not optional. There is no alternative. If we bottle up our faith and keep quiet about it, as if we were ashamed of Christ, our faith will die.

Our faith grows by expression. If we want to keep our faith, we must share it.

BILLY GRAHAM

January 16

WITH WHAT ATTITUDE SHOULD WE COME TO JESUS?

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

THE GOSPEL ALWAYS HAS AN INVITATION ATTACHED TO IT . Jesus’ invitation is, Come to me. In His day, however, some came to Jesus seeking things other than what He offered, some came for wrong motives, and some were simply unwilling to accept Jesus’ conditions and commandments. In our day, people still come to Jesus for a wide range of reasons. So let’s ask this: in the New Testament, who were those who came to Jesus and were received by Him? If we expect Jesus’ welcome, how should we come?

Seeking the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus could not have been clearer about the purpose of His mission. His blood would be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:28). God is certainly the Giver of many gifts, but the forgiveness of sins (and consequently the hope of heaven) is the only blessing promised to all who are in Christ and only to those in Christ. If we come looking for loaves and fishes, we will hear Jesus say, Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you (John 6:27).

Committing ourselves to Jesus’ lordship. If treason is the problem, fixing it surely requires that we lay down our rebellion and return to God as our rightful King. Doesn’t that make sense? If we’re not ready to quit saying My will be done and start saying Thy will be done, we’re not ready for what Jesus offers. As a Christian, Paul went so far as to say, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). This is life’s greatest commitment.

But as I’ve said, the gospel is always framed as an invitation. God does not force us to accept His forgiveness; He invites us to do so. Yes, a most serious commitment is required in order to receive His gift, and yes, if we refuse the gospel, we will not escape the justice of God’s penalty for our sins. But let us never forget what we have lost and what God wants to give back to us. In Christ, our Father is offering to give us nothing less than Himself. Forever.

In commanding us to glorify him,

God is inviting us to enjoy him.

C . S . LEWIS

January 17

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY , LIGHT AND DARKNESS HAVE BEEN UNIVERSAL SYMBOLS . Light stands for truth/goodness; darkness stands for untruth/evil. When Jesus said He was the light of the world, He was claiming to be the only truth through which the darkness of evil can be dispelled. If it was untruth that led us away from God, we can’t come back to Him without coming back to the truth. So Jesus boldly said: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

To receive God’s forgiveness, we must believe the truth found in His Son, Jesus Christ. Certainly, we must embrace the truth of who Jesus is. But we must also believe the truth that Jesus revealed about God, His Father. And what is more, we must accept the truth about ourselves and our need for reconciliation with God. The joyful truth about God’s salvation will have little impact if we haven’t digested the sorrowful truth about our alienation from Him.

Both the sinful truth about ourselves and the saving truth about God require honesty and courage. We must be willing to know the truth (this requires honesty); then we must be willing to obey the truth (this requires courage). At all costs, the truth must be accepted — the truth must be acted upon, no matter how hard it is. Because of truth’s demands, therefore, not many people are willing to be saved by the truth. "And this is the judgment: